I’ve had a week off and come back to a pile of emails etc, its part of the course being self employed. Yet one email has caused me frustration and anger – both are negative emotions and both well within my own sphere of control.

So what do you do when frustration hits?

It takes an incredible amount of energy to stay angry. Energy that I know I would be much better off putting to other things, things that could result in a positive outcome.

I’ve tried to answer the following questions.

What do I gain from being angry?

What can I do to improve the current situation?

What would I gain if I put my energy into doing something else?

When I have the answers to these questions, it become clear where best to direct my energy.

Negative emotions can take up a huge amount of energy, give Carolyna call today on 07714 216388 for your free consultation to see what coaching could help you achieve instead.

As a coach, I’m often asked why, if my client always has the answer, do they need a coach? This is where I always use my favourite metaphor:

When a client gets stuck around their particular challenge, and it doesn’t matter if they want to lose weight, gain confidence or change jobs, they get stuck for the same reason. They encounter a blockage. That blockage stems from their fight or flight response, their brain won’t allow them to think deeper and solve the issue because the answer may scare them.

A coach, will continue to question beyond the point where a client will naturally stop when challenging themselves. A coach won’t accept “because I can’t” or “I don’t know” as an answer?

Let me explain:

You’re traveling on your normal daily journey to work. Someone builds a brick wall across your route. You have 2 choices, stop or turn back neither choice will get you to where you want to go. Giving up can be the easiest option.

If I were then to say to you, “what else could you do?” you naturally think a little harder, a little deeper and that can be enough to allow yourself to think of other options, getting a ladder or a sledge hammer. 2 solutions that we didn’t have before.

If you’d like to know more about how coaching could help you resolve your personal challenges, drop Carolyn an email today on caro@reflectionscoaching.co.uk.

How many times have you said that? “I don’t have time to” or “If only I had more time….”

Modern lifestyles, juggling jobs, businesses, family, friends, is there any time left for me?

The easy answer is “No”. If we settle for “No” then we’re seriously selling ourselves short and under estimating our abilities to prioritise, juggle, organise….. whatever it takes to find some me time.

It is January and we’ve probably taken on some new goals and resolutions too. Where do we find that extra time from to run, go the gym, spend more time with our partners, something has to give if we are to be successful.

Try these 3 steps, to making some time:

Make a list, make it big, Write down everything you need to do regularly or as a one off. This is the biggest to do list you’ve ever made. Don’t miss anything.

Now divide it into 3. Be ruthless in your decisions. Separate your tasks into “What really doesn’t matter”, “What could be given to someone else”, “What has to be done by you”

Make it a priority to talk to others that can help you, whether this is your boss, colleagues, partner, children, parents or friends, ask for help. Ditch the stuff that doesn’t matter. But make a task of doing it. By that I mean don’t ignore them, make a conscious decision to remove them from your mind and your physical to do list. Remind yourself they don’t matter. In fact exterminate them! What’s left needs to be scheduled, your online calendar, or a diary – either will do – its the physical act of getting the information out of your mind and onto paper that creates the space and time you need to think and get on with the tasks you need to do.

Perhaps you need a bit more help creating a perfect work/life balance for you. Carolyn regularly coaches business owners and employees alike on achieving a low stress, healthy lifestyle to create more time for what YOU want to do. Call Carolyn now on 07714 216388 to see how she can help you achieve the life YOU want.

Why do I so often fail with my new year resolution? Are Goals and Resolutions the same thing?

Setting New Years resolutions are a bit of a tradition. I’ve been waking up on the 1st January for as long as I can remember and setting resolutions. Its something my mum first encouraged me to do.

How many resolutions last the year? Not many and that’s probably the case for most people. In fact if you start to research the topic you’ll find that stats suggest that most will be broken by the middle Monday in January. Frequently dubbed Blue Monday, this day is the accumulation of long nights, back to work syndrome, arrival of credit card bills and little to look forward to. Add to that, the fact that most people’s resolutions are about giving something up or doing something we don’t want to, then it can become a difficult proposition to maintain.

Properly formulated goals can be a very different proposition. So why are goals so different?

So ask yourself the question – Do you want to lose weight or is it that you want to feel better about yourself? Do you want to give up alcohol or do you want to live a healthier lifestyle?

Once you understand what’s driving your resolution then working toward achieving that goal is about having positive motivation, rather than moving away from something you don’t want.

Goals should be specific. They should identify exactly what it is you want to achieve, this way you will know when you’re achieved it. This should include a quantity if appropriate and a time by when you will have completed it.

So if your goal is about getting fit, how will you know when you feel fitter? Perhaps a measure might be being able to run for 5 minutes without stopping by the end of March OR being able to walk upstairs without being out of breath.

Goals are much easier to achieve in small steps. If your goal is to write a novel by the end of the year, that’s one big task that you may put off until November and then it becomes unrealistic. Break your goals into small manageable steps, which in this case might be to write the outline by the end of January, 1st chapter by end of February and get feedback in March. Celebrate each achievement as you reach it. And remember, don’t be hard on yourself. We all lose our way from time to time. It’s like riding a bike, the trick is to get back on when you fall off. So don’t be hard on yourself, just resolve to start again.

What’s Your NY Resolution?

If you need help with your goals this year, then having some support can really make the difference. Give me a call now on 07714 216388 to see how I can help you make a splash with your goals.

I sign out for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year Period as I believe its important for us all to take some time out and ensure that our work/life balance is restored. After all, all those Christmas preparations can be stressful.

I’ll be back, bright and breezy and thinking about goals in the new year, but for now………

Well, I’m about half way through the comedy challenge now and like most things that start well, there’s a point you reach when things are losing momentum or not going as well. And that’s where I’m at. Fortunately I’ve still got 2 weeks to get out there and iron out these niggling problems.

There were 2 things this week. The first was at rehearsals. Having made good progress last week, I hadn’t needed to tweak my routine that much. Many of the others had, so really my material was old hat to them. As a result the laughter wasn’t as rich.

Secondly the day after rehearsals I visited the local comedy club here in Leek and the sudden realisation of how good they were and how amateur I am hit me. I also experienced how hard the 2 middle acts had to work for their laughs. These are the new comedians on the scene who are still forming their material.

For me this a great metaphor for life.

How many times do we compare ourselves less favorably to others and have unrealistic expectations of ourselves. So here is this weeks learning point:

Be realistic – who should you compare yourself to? In my case it would be better to compare myself to my peers who are learning comedy with me, and we’re all doing OK, some are better at delivery, others have better material but we’re all improving each week.

If you apply too much pressure to be something you’re not or to achieve other’s standards, you could set yourself up for failure. As a coach this is common with my clients, so if you’re giving yourself an unbelievably hard time and need some help taking the pressure off yourself, give me a call on 07714 216388 to see how learning some personal development techniques could help you.

Less than 4 weeks ago, I was enjoying sunshine in Cornwall and now autumn has arrived with vengeance coupled with cold damp mornings. I’ve suddenly realised that the normal organised me has done some of my Christmas shopping by now.

I wonder how many people have been thrown by the long summer and are now in a period of being extra busy, Christmas is on its way, self assessments are looming, and what about those year end goals?

I’ve stopped for a moment to think about me time. I’m a firm believer in balancing my work and my life. There are certain things that are important to me, getting to the gym at least a couple time a week, walking Ziggy the dog, crafting, spending time with friends and not least Brett and I having some quality time together.

I do like to make sure that there is enough time for a bit of everything in the week. My top tips this week help to achieve that balance:

Promise yourself you’ll finish your work on time 1 or 2 days a week and follow it through. You and your home life are important.

Me time. Schedule in some time in the week for ‘Me’. Me time could be your gym sessions, a trip to the spa, or just some time to knit, read a book and relax.

You Time. I regularly take out a couple of hours in the week to meet a group of friends in the day time. Being self employed is perhaps easier to manage, but even if you work for someone else its often possible to manage your hours more flexibly to ensure you’re around for the important people in your life.

Us Time. Schedule some “us time” in the week. Whether us is your partner, kids, family, friends or dog, its all important and the people around you will love you more for it. Take the time out to do something special as a reward for working hard.

All The Time. Make this a habit not a one off. It’ll become easier with practice.

Whether in business or juggling a home life, a few simple time management techniques could be all that’s needed to make a difference. Give Carolyn a call today on 07714 216388 to book your free consultation to see how I could help you reclaim some more me time.

“The biggest lie I tell is the one I tell myself everyday – I am inferior to others” – Carolyn Trafford

Hands up if this rings true with you. I’ve stopped for a moment to question why I do it. What point does it serve to continually compare ourselves with others and then only conclude where we are inferior. We were not born with a self destruct button!!

It is this type of negative, destructive action that if used repeatedly damages self confidence, self esteem and can leave us struggling to be someone else. A role that we can not naturally fit into.

For years as I was growing up I have labelled myself “not as good as…..”, “not as pretty as…..” but never “better than” because we are taught that it is not nice to be conceited. Yet these thoughts, once they are ingrained stay with us until we take conscious action to change our thinking.

Stop and think for a moment, what phrases you’re currently using to describe yourself. Are they having a positive effect on you? What terms would you prefer to use?

It is possible to change this type of negative thinking – it just takes practice.

So simply take 5 minutes now to think about yourself in positive terms. What do you like about yourself? What is your best feature? What are you really good at?

Take time to write these down in a special notepad – I call it a “True to Me” journal

Take 5 minutes at the end of everyday and aim to note down 3 great things you’ve done or achieved.

Next time you find yourself comparing yourself less favourable to someone else, get out your “true to me” journal and choose something more positive to call yourself.

Keeping and using a “True to Me” journal is just one of the techniques I use with clients requiring some help to increase their confidence and can be a real boost. If you need more help then please get in touch with me on 07714 216388 to discuss how I can help you further.

Its a little early to be thinking of snow I admit, though the word snowballing was the perfect word for what I wanted to talk about this week.

Have you ever found yourself agreeing to something and then it just taking over?

This very thing happened to me this week. I was at one of my regular business breakfasts when someone asked the questions “Do you want to do some stand up?“. I didn’t say “Yes” and then I didn’t exactly say “No” either. I said “Tell me more” It was at this point I knew I was involved. I had taken that very first tentative step outside of my comfort zone. There were 1001 voices in my head screaming, “You’re not funny“, “that’s scary stuff” and “what will other people think?” one loan voice was saying “what do you have to lose? It will be good for you“. And somehow the loan voice was shouting loader that ALL the others put together.

And that loan voice is right. I’m comfortable standing up in front of an audience. What I’m not so comfortable about is my ability to stand in front of them and be funny. Its way outside of my comfort zone. That said, I have nothing to lose and a lot to be gained, but it all starts from one small step and will snowball from there. Now that I have agreed to do it, I’m choosing to tune into the positive voices in my head. I have confidence that they will be there for me as I take bigger and bigger steps beyond my comfort zone.

The next layer of the snowball is to start to tell people then it becomes hard to change my mind. Once I start fundraising then there will be no backing out.

Snowballing is easy, its about taking that first step. So next time you want to tackle something but a huge part of you is trying to talk you out of it, just take that first step and let the rest of it snowball from there.

If there’s something that you want to achieve, and are struggling to take the first steps, give Carolyn a call on 07714 216388 to book your free consultation to see if coaching is the solution for you.

Those of you that know me personally will also know that I’m not adverse to getting out a camera at the weekend and tagging along with my husband Brett Trafford to photograph a wedding. We were at a wedding last Friday and it started me thinking about how working with your goals is a bit like getting married, yet it so much easier to divorce our goals than our spouses.

My VVW approach to goal setting is simple and could help prevent you from divorcing your goals.

Vows – Make a commitment to yourself as you would your future spouse. During the ceremony the couple promised so much to each other and are unlikely to break them. Ask yourself why you find it so easy to break promises to yourself?

Value – When entering into a marriage we value the thoughts and opinions of our loved one. Its equally important to value yourself. Its only when you achieve this that you will place enough emphasis on achieving your goals. Lets face it – you’re worth it aren’t you?

Witness – Tell others what you’ve set out to achieve. Tell no-one and it becomes too easy to back out when things get tough. If you’re going on a diet, tell people, the risk of guilt if caught stuffing that chocolate bar into your mouth might well just stop you sabotaging yourself.

I’m currently working towards a goal of losing a stone in weight. I know from experience that I often set myself a goal and give in. So I’ve made my vows to 80 witnesses in my facebook Thin From Withinfacebook group and now potentially another 2000 here on my blog. All I need to do now, is know that I am worth it.

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About Carolyn

Leaving behind me over 22 years in the financial services industry, I am starting my new journey as a Life Coach specialising in Mind, Body and Spirit.
Qualified Life Coach specialising in Personal Development, Well-being & Weight Management, Career, Change & Redundancy coaching, Networking, and Credibility Coaching.
Reflections Coaching has a proven record of success for personal and corporate clients dating back to 2001.
Speed Coaching, Face to Face, Online and Telephone Coaching to suit you.
Having personally experienced the power of coaching, it has changed the way I live my life and pursue my career, opening up choices and giving me the confidence to live and realise my dreams of self employment. Using my experiences I am well placed to help people deal with change, both in their personal life or with their career.
On a personal note, I live for the hills and the outdoors, and enjoy sessions at the gym, particularly Body Pump and Pilates. Equally, I am just as happy at home with friends or family, good home cooked food, a glass of wine and lots of chocolate. Life is of course a fine balancing act.
A coaching relationship is a fantastic and uplifting experience, so whatever it is in life you wish for, bring Reflections Coaching on board and together we will find a way. If you want to know more, please take your time and browse http://www.reflectionscoaching.co.uk/index.html or
contact Caro on 07714 216388 or email carolyntrafford@yahoo.co.uk